For as long as manufacturing processes have existed, there has been a need for spare and replacement parts. Modern manufacturing processes may comprise thousands of discrete parts and subassemblies, each of which will eventually require repair or replacement depending upon a myriad of factors such as the intensity of use and environmental considerations. Process maintenance is crucial to profitability for manufacturing enterprises, and entails scheduling for maintenance and repairs, and providing that adequate parts and tools will be available to carry out such repairs in an expeditious fashion. Additionally, sufficient parts must be available for unplanned parts replacements.
Modern manufacturing enterprises utilize many processes operating at facilities scattered across the globe. Furthermore, the aggregate value of spare parts purchased and held in inventory to support such enterprises can reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Mismanagement of spare parts inventory carries two great risks: if spare part stocks are inadequate, then the manufacturing processes cannot operate at full profit potential; on the other hand, excess inventory of unneeded spare parts represents a misapplication of capital that could be otherwise used in a more effective manner.
Despite the pressures for effective inventory management, some manufacturing facilities which are part of a multi-facility enterprise still manage spare parts independently of one another. This is due to a number of factors, including the fact that oftentimes facilities will use differing processes that identify the same parts under differing designations. Other enterprises may utilize a central repository of spare parts that are distributed to facilities which keep their own stock of certain parts, but part levels are managed based upon set stocking requirements, without consideration of actual parts demand, availability of parts outside the central store, the dynamic nature of parts requirements, or capital investment implications. Accordingly, there is a need for an integrated parts management system to more accurately determine spare parts ordering and distribution needs for multi-facility enterprises that takes such factors into account.
One measure of the effectiveness of spare parts management is referred to as the “turns ratio,” which is found by taking the usage of spare parts inventory over a given time period and dividing by the inventory stock level for that period. A higher turns ratio results from an increase in the amount of parts usage relative to parts kept in stock, and is indicative of more effective parts management than a lower turns ratio. For typical large-scale manufacturing enterprises, the turns ratio for spare parts inventory is around 1 or lower. Enterprises have increased turns ratios for sales inventory management, but have not achieved consummate increases in the turns ratio for management of internal inventories for spare parts and the like.
Manufacturing enterprises can use enterprise resource planning and accounting systems such as SAP® to track manufacturing asset history and costs. Additional computer systems may be used in the design and revision of manufacturing processes. However, these existing systems are not optimized for spare parts management.